October 15, 2008

A view from Canada

Election night in Toronto was fun. Conservatives consolidated their hold on government – and the left lost. If Tory leader, Stephen Harper, is disappointed not to win an outright majority, he can take heart that as an incumbent centre-right leader, he’s bucked the trend elsewhere.

It’s worth reflecting just how successful Harper’s Conservatives have been. Not unlike their British counter-parts, Conservatives over here suffered electoral wipe out in the 1990s (literally, as it happens). Since then, they’ve staged a remarkable recovery.

Yet watching yesterday’s results, I couldn’t help thinking that the centre right over here could be doing so much better.

So much of Canada is governed by leftist, multi-culti-promoting, Mark-Steyn-persecuting, politically correct officialdom. In the frozen dominion, “I’m a Lumber Jack … ” is now “I’m a Quangocrat …. “

Sure, the Tories now hold office again in Ottawa. Yet a couple of days listening to state officials over here convinces me Conservatives don’t hold power. Gramsci-like, the left’s long march through Canada’s institutions is triumphant. And unless Canada’s Tories recognise that the status quo is an anti-conservative ratchet, their victory last night means they’re treading water, at best. They'll lose, even if they win the occasional election.

As in Britain, conservatism here needs to be bold and radical. The centre right needs a blueprint and a plan for radical change - not enter office limply reconciled to a leftist state and the status quo.

Comments

A view from Canada

Election night in Toronto was fun. Conservatives consolidated their hold on government – and the left lost. If Tory leader, Stephen Harper, is disappointed not to win an outright majority, he can take heart that as an incumbent centre-right leader, he’s bucked the trend elsewhere.

It’s worth reflecting just how successful Harper’s Conservatives have been. Not unlike their British counter-parts, Conservatives over here suffered electoral wipe out in the 1990s (literally, as it happens). Since then, they’ve staged a remarkable recovery.

Yet watching yesterday’s results, I couldn’t help thinking that the centre right over here could be doing so much better.